The Kansas City Chiefs have reportedly applied the franchise tag to defensive end Justin Houston.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Kansas City Chiefs won’t be letting defensive end Justin Houston walk after his near-historic 2014 season. The team will apply the franchise tag to Houston before the Monday deadline for making such a move. As a result, the team will tender a one-year deal worth roughly $15 million to Houston.
Game of tag is underway: Chiefs officially placed their franchise tag on LB Justin Houston, per team source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 2, 2015
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That deal may end up being a steal after the season Houston had. He led the NFL in sacks with 22, which fell just a half-sack short of Michael Strahan’s single-season record. In four seasons with the Chiefs, Houston has tallied 48.5 sacks. Perhaps more impressively, his impact outside of the pass rush has been of nearly greater importance.
#Chiefs Justin Houston has +104.2 overall grade since coming into NFL in 2011, best of any 3-4 OLB during that span
— PFF (@PFF) March 2, 2015
At 26 years old, Houston would have commanded near-record-setting money on a long-term deal in the open market, which makes this decision a no-brainer for the team. The Chiefs will pay the sack master a hefty one-year deal while the two sides continue to negotiate in what could be a lengthy process that sees Houston ultimately play out the 2015 season in anticipation of a similar situation a year from now.
A stalemate is likely because Houston isn’t going to want to wait another year for his long-term deal. His value may never be higher than it is right now and it would benefit the Chiefs more to hold his rights under a one-year deal.
Worst case scenario for the team, Houston repeats his performances and commands a slight bump in the sky-high contract demands that are already in place. Best case scenario, he takes a dip in production and the Chiefs get a discount in 2016. Both will likely see these talks draw out for a while.
There’s no direct word from Houston’s camp on his feeling toward the tag, but his actions have spoken loudly enough on his behalf.
Big surprise: #Chiefs announce LB Justin Houston as team MVP. No surprise: Houston a no-show at banquet. Has a conflict
— Randy Covitz (@randycovitz) February 28, 2015
If things do get ugly and Houston doesn’t report to training camp, he’ll face daily fines from the team until he signs his franchise tender and returns to the field.
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